In many vehicles, a vehicle console is disposed between left and right seats. In some of the vehicle consoles known today, a small item receptacle for a passenger to store small items is mounted on a console body. One example of the conventional techniques relating to such vehicle center consoles is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2008-189170 (hereinafter referred to as “Patent Literature 1”).
In the vehicle center console disclosed in Patent Literature 1, the console body capable of storing passenger's baggage is disposed between the left and right seats, and the small item receptacle is mounted on an upper portion of the console body in such a manner that it is slidable in a front-rear direction of the vehicle. With the small item receptacle slid to a forward position, baggage can be stored into an interior portion of the console body rearward of the small item receptacle. With the small item receptacle slid to a rearward position, on the other hand, baggage can be stored into an interior portion of the console body forward of the small item receptacle. Thus, many pieces of baggage can be stored in the entire interior of the console body.
However, because the console body is always open at a portion forward or rearward of the small item receptacle, there is a possibility of a small item accidentally falling into the interior of the console body, and thus, the vehicle center console disclosed in Patent Literature 1 has a room for further improvement.